Water Makes Me Thirsty!

I am on the Keto diet….again. This time I’m being more careful and following the guidance like I’m supposed to – keeping watch on my carbs, calories, fats and proteins. Well, there is one thing that I still struggle with – drinking enough water. It’s not that I dislike water. It’s just that I like other drinks better, including coffee, which I love to drink every morning.  So putting more plain, boring water into my day hasn’t been something I look forward to.

I know there are many studies about the health benefits of drinking lots of water, as well as the fact that it would help me lose weight faster. Here is a link to a Healthline article about the benefits of drinking water. That by itself should be strong motivation, shouldn’t it? BUT I still struggle with drinking it. (https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/why-is-water-important)

Good Water Turned Bad

Recently Texas had a week of crazy winter that wreaked havoc on our state. Yes, I know it was only for a week, but we Texans are sissies when it comes to cold, especially unusual temperatures BELOW zero! We faced days of no power, rolling outages, frozen pipes, and lack of water. Then when the pipes began to thaw, the water department told us we had to boil our water before consuming it. How quickly something we took for granted turned into a health risk!

Water is the essence of life. When God created the world, water was there at the very beginning.  Water is a part of every living thing.

The thing about water is – you always need more. It satisfies, but only temporarily. Our need for water makes us thirsty again!

Jesus’ Special Water

One of my favorite Bible stories is about a special kind of water. When Jesus was on Earth, he had many unusual encounters – with demon-possessed lunatics, rich rulers, hypocritical religious leaders, many sick, blind and deaf people, even dead folks that he brought back to life! But one meeting not only changed someone’s life, but her whole town as well.

There was a woman in the Samaritan town of Sychar who had a life-changing encounter with Jesus at the town’s water well. The story is told in John 4 and is the longest recorded dialog with Jesus in the Bible. We aren’t told the woman’s name, but there are some facts we do learn from the story.

First a little background, Jews did not like Samaritans. In fact, they despised them so much that they refused to go through Samaria when traveling between Galilee and Judea (see the map). They would add extra hours to their trip just to avoid the Samaritans! Crazy, isn’t it?

Jesus’ Trip Through Samaria

John says that Jesus “had” to go to Samaria. I don’t know why other than for this meeting to occur. Most of the Samaritan women went to the well in the morning while it was still cool. But now it was the middle of the day and the sun was beating down on the sand. This woman was coming there in the heat just so she would not be seen by the other women.

Jesus was sitting beside the well, waiting for her to arrive. He knew she was coming. He had sent his disciples into the town to get some food. So it was just the two of them there when she arrived.

He watched her as she approached, her eyes glancing in every direction to make sure none of the other women would see her there and whisper about her. She was tired of the gossip and hateful glares.

An Unexpected Encounter

At first she didn’t see him sitting there, and then Jesus asked her for a drink of water. It stopped her in her tracks. Here was a man sitting by the town’s well in the heat of the day asking her for a drink. She looked around, sure he wasn’t actually talking to her. No one ever talked to her. Besides, a Jew would never ask a Samaritan, especially a woman, for a drink no matter how thirsty he was. Samaritans were unclean and worthless.

She hesitated, keeping her eyes down. She felt uneasy but responded to his question with one of her own: “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?”

Jesus’ answer was not what she expected. “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

Living water? She was puzzled. This man doesn’t even have a jug to draw water, and yet he talks about giving me water to drink?

Jesus Knows Her Secrets

But Jesus wasn’t done. He knew her heart, her longing, her struggles, and her sin. He told her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. In fact, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

She finally looked up at him. What is he talking about? Living water? No more drawing water from the well? Never being thirsty again? She finally responded, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

 He paused, looked her in the eye and said, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

Her voice softened to almost a whisper. “I have no husband,” she replied. Her eyes looking down at the ground once again; the shame welling up inside her.

Jesus said to her, “I know. You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you are living with is not your husband.”

Who is This Man?

She realized that he must be some kind of prophet to know all this about her, but he wasn’t judging her. Instead, he told her that a time was coming when the Samaritans, the Jews, and anyone that truly believes will worship God in spirit and truth.

She replied, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Jesus smiled at her, “I am the Messiah, my child.”

A Changed Life

Did he just say HE was the Messiah? She forgot about her shame, dropped her jug to the ground, and ran back to the town. She shouted for everyone to come quickly. “It’s Him! It’s Him! The Promised One has come!” As they all gathered around her, she caught her breath and said, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this really be the Messiah?”

So everyone made their way out of town and met Jesus. They asked him to stay and many others believed because of this woman’s words.

Life-changing Water…For You

Living water. It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? It makes us never thirsty again. Not a physical thirst, of course, but our thirst for meaning, for acceptance, for purpose, for forgiveness.

Are you missing that living water in your life? Does it seem like life is just one challenge and struggle after another? Is your shame weighing you down? Do you feel lost and alone? I have felt that way many times, too.

If I were there with you, dear one, I would take your hand, and tell you that you are not alone. Your Heavenly Father loves you and wants to fill you to overflowing with his peace and forgiveness. Nothing you have ever done can make him love you any less. Absolutely nothing! I promise.

I know that may be hard to believe. If you’re like me, your past likes to come bumping back into the present reminding you that you are not worthy. Satan wants us to feel that way. But he is liar!

Just like he promises in Lamentations 2:22-23, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Hang on tight to that promise. Every day is a new start. Drink from his living water and never be thirsty again.

Love, Grandma D